I remember reading John Gray quoted saying that he had never trained as hard as under Murphy at an England training session. I used to regularly watch Warrington train at Loushers Lane at that time and either the England training was much more intense or Wigan hardly bothered.

Anyway he was pretty successful. Australia won the 1975 World Cup only because England lost to Wales: the two games against Australia ended in a draw and a win for England.

Yes I know, Fox did coach GB in 1978, but the RFL ducked out of giving him the 1979 tour which wouldn't have been the shambles it was if Fox had been in charge. He should've been GB coach up to Mal Reilly, and could've single-handed masked the enormous gulf that was developing between the two countries to the point where the apocalyptic Invincibles 1982 Tour never happened with its subsequent awakening in the British game and the inevitable ensuing slavish copying of all things Australian in search of an unattainable holy grail whilst being unable to shed a crushing inferiority complex which led to.......

Yes I know, Fox did coach GB in 1978, but the RFL ducked out of giving him the 1979 tour which wouldn't have been the shambles it was if Fox had been in charge. He should've been GB coach up to Mal Reilly, and could've single-handed masked the enormous gulf that was developing between the two countries to the point where the apocalyptic Invincibles 1982 Tour never happened with its subsequent awakening in the British game and the inevitable ensuing slavish copying of all things Australian in search of an unattainable holy grail whilst being unable to shed a crushing inferiority complex which led to.......

Need I go on?

Could we stop you?

"Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality" - Mikhail Bakunin

Yes I know, Fox did coach GB in 1978, but the RFL ducked out of giving him the 1979 tour which wouldn't have been the shambles it was if Fox had been in charge. He should've been GB coach up to Mal Reilly, and could've single-handed masked the enormous gulf that was developing between the two countries to the point where the apocalyptic Invincibles 1982 Tour never happened with its subsequent awakening in the British game and the inevitable ensuing slavish copying of all things Australian in search of an unattainable holy grail whilst being unable to shed a crushing inferiority complex which led to.......

Need I go on?

That's what I think. He was certainly a motivator. Whether we'd have put up a better show against the Aussies in 1982 is open to question. I recall the Aussie no 11 (Rod Reddy?) running from the 25 yd line and scoring at Headingley in the decider against Foxy's side in 1978. No one even laid a hand on him. We hadn't a forward who could do that.

"This is a very wealthy country, money is no object" D. Cameron February 2014